Although smallpox was officially eradicated in the 1970’s [Henderson, 1976] very little is known about the specific pathogenesis of pox viruses. Today, with the threat of biological warfare, a renewed interest in pox pathology has arisen. We will be using the vaccinia virus, the typical pox model and the vaccine strain used to vaccinate against smallpox, in order to better understand how the body generates a potent adaptive immune response. Specifically, we will be studying how the tissue resident and lymphoid resident dendritic cells activate a cytotoxic lymphocyte response following an intranasal vaccinia infection.

To determine the relative ability of CD8+ DCs and CD8- DCs in stimulating a naïve CD8 T cell response in pulmonary VV infection

To determine the mechanism behind the acquisition of CD8a expression by lung resident CD103+ DC.

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